NOURISHING THE STILLNESS WITHIN
A Three-Day Introduction to 
the Inner Landscape of Stillness

Instead of clinical work, the emphasis will be on going solo. We will dive deeply and exclusively into the internal experience of stillness as it relates to healing, self-knowledge, and personal evolution. ALCHEMY OF PRESENCE is a skilled, embodied form of meditative inquiry that feels great — and can transform you. For this class, the only prerequisite is the ability to sit or lie still for about 30 minutes. Open to everyone.

How do you ground in your body,
widen your awareness,
rest in stillness,
connect deeply with others,
and activate primordial rhythms of health --
all by "doing nothing"?

The landscape of stillness has recognizable features. We will emphasize:

The Neutral
Heart Perception
The Midline
Fluid Tide
and Long Tide
(with a dip into the Dynamic Stillness)

Students will learn practices to develop access to these universes of perception and experience, which are catalysts for growth, healing, and transformation.

A small group environment provides time for:

Meditation
Lecture
Thoughtful discussion
Inner investigations
Breath, movement, and partner experiments
Individual work with Jenna if desired

• Designed for students who desire a less rigorous academic environment and have no need for a clinical education in the work.
• Appropriate for any body; call instructor if you wish to discuss your own situation.
• Can serve as prerequisite for One Heart, the extended training in Alchemy of Presence.

Instructor Jenna Milner, LMT, NCTMB is a longtime student of the healing arts, meditation, and yoga. She has been a licensed massage therapist in full-time private practice since 1996. ALCHEMY of PRESENCE is based on Jenna's studies and practice of Biodynamic Craniosacral Work, as well as her personal and professional explorations of stillness and healing. The work has been informed by inspiring encounters with enthusiastic students and clients, as well as visionary teachers Reiko Dewey, Hugh Milne, Charles Ridley, Levent Bolukbasi, Adyashanti, Robbie Bosnak, Linda Ruth, and Deena Spear.

Upcoming Classes Please inquire about class in formation.

Prerequisite Ability to be still for 30 minutes.

Cost $450

CEUs 22 CEUs for licensed massage therapists (New York State and NCBTMB)

To Enroll or for more information, email or call Jenna at (607) 229-3127.

 

THE STILLNESS WITHIN
A Four-Day Introduction to 
ALCHEMY of PRESENCE

This ALCHEMY of PRESENCE class is an introduction to the fundamentals of Biodynamic Craniosacral Work. The class is open to lay people as well as those in the healing arts.

lnstead of focusing on fixing problems, Biodynamic Craniosacral Work helps you to perceive health and to enhance it in yourself and in others. It’s possible to encourage the inherent ability to heal and evolve.

The Biodynamic approach is one of being with, not doing to. The treatment follows the body’s natural inclinations, sequence, and timing, so healing arises effortlessly. The work facilitates deep rest, transformation, and unsurpassed activation of healing potential. It feels great both to give and to receive it.

In this class, we will emphasize the “Neutral,” which is the portal of stillness through which healing and evolutionary intelligence enter. Through meditation, movement, lecture, exchanges with partners, and discussion, you will:

• Cultivate a body-felt awareness of what a Neutral feels like—in your own body, in someone else’s body, and in the environment.
• Receive tools to help quiet your mind and to perceive or develop the Midline.
• Refine awareness of embodied states of consciousness.
• Be introduced to (and perhaps experience some of the) key features of the biodynamic map, including the Midline, the Neutral, Stillpoint, Fluid Tide, Long Tide, and the Dynamic Stillness.
• Learn how the biodynamic lineage fits into the paradigm of craniosacral work.

Please note: Because Biodynamics engages rhythms of much greater amplitude than the cranial wave, no traditional craniosacral techniques will be taught.

This class covers subtle material that often takes years to master, and yet many students have found that a weekend introduction can be unexpectedly powerful. If desired, the class can be supplemented with a broader multi-year curriculum (One Heart).

Previous Participants Comment:

Jenna in her brilliance teaches us about the stillness underlying all true healing.

This spoke to my heart deeply. All that is present for me now—in my work, in my spiritual journey, in my life—came together with this material.

Presented with sincerity, excitement, awe & respect that was contagious...beautiful!

Instructor Jenna Milner, LMT, NCTMB is a longtime student of the healing arts, meditation, and yoga. She has been a licensed massage therapist in full-time private practice since 1996. Starting in 1999 she intensively studied Visionary Craniosacral Work for three years with Reiko Dewey, senior faculty of The Milne Institute. She then mentored for over five years in Biodynamic Craniosacral Work with Charles Ridley. (Charles is the author of Stillness: Biodynamic Cranial Practice and The Evolution of Consciousness.) Since 2007 Jenna has been teaching The Stillness Within as the introductory program in an original Biodynamic curriculum called ALCHEMY of PRESENCE.

“Biodynamic Craniosacral Work has sensitized me to a level of perception that is missing from technique-oriented programs. It has revolutionized my professional practice, helped me understand the nature of healing, and allowed me to relax more. I love sharing my passion for this work!”

Upcoming Classes Please inquire about groups in formation. See also the related 3-day class Nourishing the Stillness Within (description above).

Prerequisite  Ability to be still for 35 minutes. (Bodywork or meditation experience helpful.)

Cost  $630 (If paid 30 days in advance) for four days, 10 am to 6 pm.

CEUs  32 CEUs for licensed massage therapists (New York State and NCBTMB)

For More Information Feel free to speak with the instructor as well, by email jmilner@alum.swarthmore.edu or voice message (607) 229-3127.

My New Year

Being love
Being all that is
The freedom that comes from being all that is.

Being embodied.

Being in my body.

Being my body

My body is large.

I am freedom.

 

Written by Candice Gorman on December 31st, 2012, at the close of The Stillness Within.

ONE HEART
AN EXTENDED TRAINING in
BIODYNAMIC AWARENESS

ONE HEART is a multi-year perceptual training in the ALCHEMY of PRESENCE. The program is designed to deepen your recognition of Stillness as Self. Both the form and the formless aspects of Stillness are explored, with emphasis on The Neutral, Fluid Body, Potency Body, and Dynamic Stillness.

Refine your navigation skills in the landscape of stillness and you will notice that transformation occurs. You inhabit your body more fully, your perception widens, your presence deepens, your mind quiets. You know uncanny things and unexpected healing occurs in a deep state of rest — without you doing anything. You feel aligned with a source of intelligence that becomes a deep resource in living your life and relating to others; and if you work with clients professionally, they also respond to this resource in themselves. The clinical possibilities, as always, are profound.

Previous Participants Comment:

This is a program of inner transformation, sensitivity, & of celebrating life. I would recommend it to anyone. Gab Hoff

One Heart is affirming that the work I’ve done with Jenna — both on the table and in her classes — is transformative and needs to be a priority in my life, not only for my health but also for my growth as a parent and an artist. Joslyn Smith

Jenna very carefully creates a sanctuary for those entering the Biodynamic Craniosacral world, allowing you to immerse yourself in your greater being, heal and move towards joy. My clients have also felt the depth of its healing. Helen Tseng

Thank you Jenna, for teaching me about Biodynamics, Stillness, and the key concept of staying grounded in my body as I sense into the tides of biodynamic work. It’s made a world of difference in my work as an occupational therapist and massage therapist. You continue to inspire! Magdalen Gillard

PROGRAM GOALS

After taking the six core courses, you can expect to:

1. Widen and refine your perceptual field so that you can begin to perceive health and wholeness.
2. Recognize the power of being rather than doing.
3. Engage the potency of Fluid Tide and Long Tide (and possibly the Dynamic Stillness) ~ which necessarily means that you will be able to sense and support fluid movement, bioelectric movement, and stillness.
4. Develop awareness of and sensitivity to new channels of information and layers of consciousness. Eventually, gain the ability to be moved by instinctual wisdom, rather than led by your mind or will.
5. Explore specific body-felt dispositions and experiences, and study a related conceptual paradigm, which are rooted in Biodynamic Craniosacral Work. These concepts, experiences, and dispositions include: the Neutral, Stillpoint, the Midline, Fluid Tide, Long Tide, and the Dynamic Stillness.
6. Become aware of parallels between Biodynamic Craniosacral Work and other wisdom traditions.

While the clinical applications and repercussions are profound, One Heart requires no craniosacral background and will not teach you to be a craniosacral practitioner. We will neither intentionally work with the cranial wave, nor will we learn to find and fix lesions in the craniosacral system. As appropriate, you will be offered basic craniosacral anatomy for precision of hand contacts at the midline. However, the emphasis will be on touching the body as consciousness itself. Although it is a matter of personal evolution and not a guarantee, based on previous students' experiences, completion of One Heart can enable you to recognize and reliably access Fluid Tide and Long Tide. Many students will also be able to access and facilitate the Dynamic Stillness and the Descending Current.

Intended for healing arts practitioners seeking greater awareness and effectiveness; and for meditators who have a body!

LEARNING TRACKS

Students will choose one of two learning tracks:

FOUNDATION-LEVEL CLINICAL SKILLS (This includes core studies in Meditation and Self-Inquiry, and also offers the opportunity for instructor's comments on up to 60 documented sessions. Highly recommended for those who wish to take this work into clinical practice.)

MEDITATION AND SELF-INQUIRY (Available to any participant. This track requires at least 10 sessions be documented. The "sessions" can be highly personalized and need not involve another person.)

PROGRAM FORMAT

Completion of ONE HEART gives you the opportunity to:

• Attend 18 days of training, from 10 am to 6 pm each day.
• Participate in three private, 90-minute mentoring sessions with the instructor.
• Complete and document 10 free-form sessions (Meditation Track) or 60 clinical sessions (Clinical Track) of 30 minutes or more. For those on the Clinical Track before Jenna’s manual is available, you will receive detailed feedback from the instructor.
• Purchase, read, and discuss one book (Charles Ridley's Stillness) and listen to several provided audio files. (You will be offered an extensive list of recommended books and audio files for your pleasure!) We anticipate a publication date of winter 2018 for Jenna Milner’s book-length student manual.

A daily meditation practice will enhance your receptivity to the work and is encouraged.

MORE DETAILS ABOUT ONE HEART CLASSES

THE FOUNDATION CLASS (Prerequisite: The Stillness Within)

Topics: This class was previously known as The NEUTRAL. It will amplify your understanding and experience of The Neutral — the basis and "sine qua non" of Biodynamic work.

Through lecture, meditation, table work, discussion, and exercises, you will investigate the Midline, Embodiment, Heart Perception, the Practitioner's Neutral, the Client's Neutral, and the Stillpoint.

Become familiar with embodied feeling tones; expand awareness in the vertical and transverse planes; and practice speaking, touching, and acting from the Neutral as well as recognizing the Neutral in another person.

Detailed enough to satisfy the clinical practitioner, but widely applicable and open to all.

COMMUNITY SILENT RETREAT

Open retreat days for community meditation and exchange of table work, conducted in silence besides the opening and closing circles.

THE FLUID TIDE (Prerequisite: The Foundation Class)

Topics: Enhancing Your Contact with The Fluid Body; The Motion Present; The Fluid Tide; Fulcra, True & False; The Fluid Drive; Introduction to Intuitive Perception in Fluid Tide.

BEYOND THE BODY: INTUITION, TOUCH & PERCEPTION (Prerequisite: The Fluid Tide)

Topics: More on Fluid Tide; The 3 Paradigms of Craniosacral Work; Introduction to Midline Contacts; Working with the Tissue Body at Zone B; Exploring Your Non-Ordinary Channels of Perception in Fluid Tide.

THE AUTHENTIC SELF (Prerequisite: The Fluid Tide)

Topics: Investigating What Keeps You From the Neutral; Mystery School for Biodynamic Awareness. (To be confirmed with Guest Instructor: The Reichian Defense Structures).

THE LONG TIDE (Prerequisite: Beyond The Body)

Topics: The Potency Body and Long Tide; Orienting to the Horizon.

THE DYNAMIC STILLNESS (Prerequisite: The Long Tide)

Topics: The Dynamic Stillness; Orienting to Emptiness; Silent Retreat Day.

PARALLEL UNIVERSES (Prerequisite: The Dynamic Stillness)

Topics: Review of the Four Perceptual Levels of the Biodynamic Map; Enrich Your Grasp of Biodynamics through Studying Parallels in Other Wisdom Traditions. (To be confirmed with Guest Instructor: The Four Quadrants of the Astrological Chart).

CLINICAL POSSIBILITIES (Prerequisite: Parallel Universes)

Topics: Applying Biodynamic Principles to Clinical Work; Maintaining the Neutral in Trigger Situations; Finding the Health in Challenging Clients; Clinical Case Studies (Exploring What's Possible with Biodynamics). Graduation from Core Curriculum.

BEYOND THE BIODYNAMIC MAP (Prerequisite: Three to five years of biodynamic practice, body-felt awareness of the four traditional biodynamic universes, and interview with the instructor)

Topics: Beyond Dynamic Stillness; Paradox and Perception; Advanced Midline Contacts.

Location  Ithaca area, NY (or invite Jenna Milner to your location!)

To Enroll  or for more information, email or call Jenna at (607) 229-3127.

VISIONARY PERCEPTION OF THE BODY
Getting Still and Seeing True

When you get still enough to really listen, it's amazing how much information comes in. Accurate, visionary perception enhances your skills as a healing arts practitioner, so that in addition to assessing what's wrong, you can also see and optimize the underlying health. For a massage therapist, for example, instead of just finding knots, you can confidently assess and optimize your client's well-being as a whole. What is the actual source of the pain that they're having? Where does the body's intelligence direct you to go now? How can you communicate with (and facilitate) the health that is the constant matrix underlying discomfort? What does it feel like to touch the body as consciousness itself?

VISIONARY PERCEPTION OF THE BODY is a three-day workshop that will give you advanced tools for listening to (and seeing and touching) the wisdom of each client's body, no matter which modalities you use. Instructor Jenna Milner will reveal the innovative perceptual "tool kit" that is the basis of her thriving clinical practice.

In a fun, experiential environment, you will:

• Identify your primary channels of non-ordinary perception and gain practice in accessing them.
• Learn to get still enough to see clearly (this is the Practitioner's Neutral).
• Practice grounding in the body and modulating awareness along the midline axis.
• Expand your awareness in the transverse axis.

You will be able to put these skills to immediate use in a clinical setting, but you may also draw on them in meditation or personal relationships. The work draws from Jenna's background in meditation and biodynamic craniosacral work. For a more in-depth approach to Biodynamic Craniosacral Work, please see the workshop THE STILLNESS WITHIN.

Previous Participants Comment:

This has been one of the richest, most nourishing experiences of my educational path. I am leaving this workshop having gained profound insight and tools to take into both my personal development and professional work. Melissa Kelley

Amazing openness, knowledge, humility, teaching on part of instructor. Would love to take more classes with instructor. Love how Jenna made the space sacred and safe, both with flowers etc. and feeling tone. Really felt free to explore, grow, ask questions, and most of all, just BE. Ann Margaret McKillop

Like the tides we learned about, the content, sharing, trades filled & ebbed in a well attended to rhythm. I leave the workshop feeling a welling up of creative potential in myself and sense the same in all the other participants. Jenna created such an invitation to each of us to show up in our uniqueness. This contributed to much movement and “work” in us all. Janet Fortess

Jenna is able to articulate things that would be very challenging for most people. I’m impressed with her ability to relate to each person individually and address their needs. She’s a master. Margaret Kish

A safe, sacred space was created that nurtured us and allowed us to go deep. The instructor has a depth & breadth of knowledge and wisdom and skillfully imparted this with us. Outstanding! Thank you! Dolores Mannix

Upcoming Classes Contact Instructor or stay tuned!

CEUs for LMTs Massage Therapists receive 24 CEUs toward New York State licensing requirements and 24 CEUs toward National Certification (NCBTMB) requirements.

Location  The Urban Treehouse, Ithaca, NY.

Prerequisite Intended for massage therapists, psychotherapists, and other healing arts practitioners. Must be able to sit in stillness for 20 minutes. Bodywork or meditation experience helpful.

Cost  $540 (3 Days, 10 am to 6 pm).

To Enroll  Contact the instructor for more information at jennakitmilner@gmail.com.